6000 Dead Pigs in Shanghai's Water Source

The bigger and more prosperous China becomes, the more dangerous it is. Not only does the West need to worry about its military prowess and claims in the South China Sea, its massive amounts of people that consume massive amounts of food and product, which produces similar amounts of waste, but the environmental impact China has on the world. Its waste is carried by the weather and jet stream. Its industry is booming and spewing out all sorts of environmentally bad things with a lack of regulation.

Take the 6000 dead pigs floating in Shanghai's main source of water, the Huangpu River. This once river supplies the 23 million people of this city with water. Can you even imagine a city this size? If you can, imagine all the infrastructure that makes it possible. Daunting.

The 6000 pigs in the river, bloated and gross, were discovered only 43 miles away and the Chinese have no clue what killed them, who killed them or how dead pigs in the water might endanger its citizens of the city. Pork is a favorite of the Chinese and a half billion of them live in putrid confines before slaughtered. Some experts are stating the 6000 dead ones is a result of a disease outbreak. You think? Tests have revealed some pig related diseases in the water.Also found in the water were benzene.

In January, the Chinese stopped pork production due to a foot and mouth disease outbreak and in 2007, 50 million pigs died of high fever blue ear disease.

The Huangpu River itself is downstream from the heavy industrialized Zhejiang and Jiangsu regions that frequently dump chemicals and raw sewage into smaller rivers that feed Huangpu. This whole mix of dirty water eventually ends up in the Yangtze River. China’s cities consume 60 million tons of water each day, delivered by some 4,000 water-treatment plants, of which 1000 fail to meet clean water standards by Western standards. Some 90% of the groundwater in Chinese cities is polluted to some degree, with around 60% making the “severely polluted” category. China is also short of water sources.

The whole event is simply an indication of what is to come in China and from China.